Yeah right, sticking your head in in an oven is a dry heat as well. It really is more comfortable here at 100+ degrees because of the low humidity, but honestly, hot is hot.

That doesn't mean we haven't found ways to cope- we now have a swamp cooler aboard- can you imagine? Most of the time we have struggled to remove moisture from the boat as it causes all kinds of issues. Here we are pumping water into the air for cooling, but also to keep the interior teak healthy! Go figure!

OK enough whining.

We had a great long weekend. Went to Balandra as it is a good place to anchor in the Coromuel winds that occur here on a regular basis this time of year. Those are South to Southwest winds that occur due to the unique geography of the Baja peninsula and the differences in temperature between the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean. While they work well to cool off La Paz, they don't do much for comfort at anchor in a lot of the local anchorages. As I have written before, a passage at anchor isn't the most restful way to spend the night.

Riding those same SSW winds the next day we started north. We have always wanted to check out Isla San Francisco and thought this would be a good time. About three hours in the wind died off, not unexpected, and we started motoring. The seas were calm and we had great views of the Manta rays doing their best to get airborne. Just a hoot to watch these beasts. While they are in the water they move majestically and nearly effortlessly "fly" through the water. Once they leave that realm and leap out of the water, that grace is gone and they become a flopping piece of fish flesh! They will do a great belly flop and do it again- then again- all in the effort to impress a suitable mate. Kind of sounds almost like spring break.

Isla San Francisco is a really cool island about 40 miles out of La Paz and it has a selection of anchorages that allows for a good set in various winds. We chose the northernmost one because we are tired of getting slammed by those Coromuels. Turned out to be a great choice.

Kind of a different type of anchorage, just a big open roadstead, but protected from the south by the island, 16 foot of water over a good sand bottom, crystal clear water, and a good cooling breeze. Just about the nicest anchorage we've had so far.

There was this rock to the north of us called Isla Coyote, with some rock reefs off to the side. Not having read the guide book close enough, we didn't know what we were to find as we rounded the corner.

A full on fishing village! Imagine our surprise, we were a ½ mile away for 24 hrs and had no idea this was here, no lights glowing, nothing indicating it at all. We will have to return- as good of an excuse as any!

It's really hard sometimes to find the words to describe some of these experiences. They are magic in ways that defy simple description- the sea life, the sunsets, the good and wholesome foods. Everything you can possibly imagine.

We set sail after a couple of very nice nights at anchor and started south to La paz

Welcomed back out by the Mantas, we cruised along the other islands that make up the Parque Nacional Espiritu Santo. As we worked our way down we had a couple of whale encounters and then sailed into our largest pod of Dolphin yet! Over a hundred of the bottlenose clowns were playing around us as they worked their way north. What a great way to end a great weekend.